Markdoc

Re: Talking about doubling equipment

Re: Talking about doubling equipment Yep, I have an old, old PC (father Azaell, an evil-fighting Catholic priest - sort of a modern day inquisitor) who had: 33 Astonishing gun-tricks multipower All powers take the limitations OAF, 32 uses in 4 clips of 8, Beam attack (-1/4), Can't be pushed (-1/4). Defined as two-fisted .45 automagnums, John Woo style) 3 2d6 RKA, area affect, selective, autofire 5 3 30 STR Telekinesis (only to shoot things around, -1/2) 3 2d6 RKA, +1/2 variable advantage, autofire 5 And he has been disarmed in precisely that fashion before, meaning he has to fall back on his martial arts. That, or summoning angels cheers, Mark

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

Re: Archery Ballistics Me too: I don't actually WANT realistic combat in my games, even those that are "gritty". All I want are rules that encourage people to behave rationally (like seeking cover when being shot at). Still, if other pople wish more detail - it's Hero system: detail away! cheers, Mark

Re: Talking about doubling equipment I don't use it. As I understand it, it is intended for backups. The first time I ever saw it used was in the old megapointage Seeker who had an attack defined as "xd6 HA, OAF, Sai" and then "+5 points - another Sai" So buying an extra blaster pistol for 5 points does not give you an extra attack with that extra blaster. It gives you an extra blaster you can use if the first one goes buh-bye. So I really can't see the point. This sounds like part of the focus limitation. For me, if a character defines his autofire RKA as "he shoots really fast" with his OAF pistol and another defines it as "Two-fisted john woo-style gunplay" with two OAF pistols, it is simply a matter of special effects. Based on those special effects, gunfighter #1 loses his OAF, if it is successfully grabbed, whereas gunfighter #2 would perhaps be able to retain reduced effectiveness - it'd take two grabs or a grab affecting both arms to completely disarm him (I'd allow a Confessor-style grab - from Astro city - in which he grabs a gun with either hand to disarm #2 as a simple grab, as well: it is an OAF). In contrast, Gunman #1 could swing from a rope and shoot at full effectiveness, whereas gunman #2 could not (unless he's got a prehensile tail ). If gunman #3 wants to carry 15 pistols (or even, say 3 or 4), so he can't easily be disarmed, then I'd require he take OIF, not OAF. As for putting multiple weapons on a vehicle, I've never understood why duplication was not used. cheers, Mark

Re: Archery Ballistics Couple o' points: First off the myth that arrow wounds are in some mystical way different from bullet wounds is, well, a myth. This kind of thing: "In bowhunting, it’s all about the broadhead. It must slice cleanly with little or no bruising or tearing of the tissue. In very simplified terms, when a razor-sharp blade slices living tissue (muscle and/or organs) without bruising or tearing the tissue it has sliced, the brain fails to initiate the process which causes blood coagulation, resulting in extreme hemorrhaging." is just fantasy. The brain has nothing (that's zip, zero, nada, not a sausage) to do with blood clotting, which is a chemical reaction caused by exposure to material released by damaged cells or to changes in ambient oxygen. Slashing and stab wounds do bleed a lot. Guess what? Bullet wounds bleed like billy-o, too. What determines how much you bleed is the size and number of blood vessels opened - not how they were opened. The short version is that wounds - all wounds - kill in one or two ways. One is if the missile hits something vital (brain, heart, major nerve). The other is bleeding. All this stuff about hydrostatic shock, extreme hemorrhaging, etc is hooey, made to fill up magazine columns. Arrows are less likely to be rapidly lethal than bullets (even pistol bullets) because they have less penetration and therefore are less likely to hit something vital (there's a reason the gun replaced the bow...). All of your vital bits are pretty well buried. However, a broadhead arrow may actually cause more bleeding than a pistol bullet simply because of the size of the head - it gives you a greater chance of slashing a major blood vessel. In other words, it makes a bigger hole. A rifle bullet will make a skinnier hole, but odds are, it will be just as big, or bigger, since it's a *long* skinny hole - and it's more likley to be lethal since it gets to where your important stuff is kept. So to sum up, rifle bullets are more likely to kill (I think that's covered by the increased DC already), pistol bullets more likely to wound and arrows *may* cause more bleeding (so you might want to decrease the chance of bleeding stopping for rifle and arrow wounds if you use the bleeding rules). I'm not sure that the whole "removing the arrow" thing adds much in terms of realism - moving with a bullet inside you is damn painful too, and will also cause damage: in real life, any medical attention should involve getting that out as fast as is safely possible. But if it adds to the feel, go for it. I can't really say anthing about kevlar, since I have never seen anyone shot wearing kevlar - either with a gun *or* a bow But the other thing to consider is that a bow is as silent as a silenced pistol, so that can addto the freaky factor - if there's much background noise, the arrow can appear as if from nowhere. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! Thanks for the kind words - but actually we're just getting started: all the real fun stuff is yet to come! cheers, Mark

Re: The Flood: Part II - Stealing Skills My suggestion is rather than putting the multiform in the VPP, simply give the combat multiform a VPP defined as "targets skills and capabilities (limited set of powers, only changes under specific circumstances). The VPP is simply there for skills and stats: they require GM's permission to put into frameworks, but in this case, I don't see a problem And it's a solution which has been used in published characters - for example skilsofts, for cyberpunk characters. That'd reduce the cost significantly and get around the problem that no amount of skill levels would give you much competence with a skill you don't have in the first place. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go!

Re: Usagi Yojimbo Hero Actually, on the discussion boards, I mentioned Stan has promised a backstory telling Jei's origin in the not too distant future. Half of me thinks "neatness!" and the other half wonders if it might not be better to keeep it mysterious cheers, Mark

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Hot chick with a sword. Once upon a time it was a novel concept. Also the original releases had Chris Achileos covers. I read one, but the plot completely escapes me now because after reading it, my "bad book memory obliterator" kicked in so I could use the brain cells for something more useful. cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! And carrying on from last time: After collecting Lamoniak's chain-shirt from the armoury with some little problems (he didn't have enough cash to pay for it and had to resort to pressing the local lord to chip in), the players set off on foot, taking the road into the hills heading more or less north. They stopped for lunch at Khastz' father's manor house where Khastz scored a qurrock and gear (his father was delighted that his "useless" younger son was finally doing something with his life: a magic gift and a revenge quest? Just what a young armiger should be doing!), and overnighted at Gen's father's farm where Gen scored a big bag of qurrock nuts and practical stuff for camping out. The players now have 4 qurrocks and 1 Horse. And Khelsan traded happily all the while. Travel went peacefully, and at the end of the 2nd day they stayed overnight at the last of the farms in the foothills. This is as far inland as any of the characters have ever been before, so from here on in, it's unknown territory. Deeper into the hills on the 3rd day they came to a fork in the track, one branch of which was blocked by crossed spears. Local legend has it that there was a village down that way where Something Bad Happened a long time ago, and nobody goes there, ever. But the Samadrians' qurrock tracks led that way, so the players did too, with Aquila and Gen scouting ahead. By nightfall they reached a large and isolated ruined house built into the side of a hill. Qurrock tracks and ung and the cold ashes of a fire showed that the Samadrians had stayed here the previous night so they did too (after much farting about for fear of ambushes). Despite their best efforts no one came to attack them, nor were they disturbed by monsters or supernatural visitations in the night. The journey on the 4th day brought them to the ruined village where Something Bad Happened, a large and formerly prosperous settlement in a narrow valley, with a big watermill and its own temple. But there was something weird about the village. All the ground and the walls of the houses were absolutely devoid of plant and animal life - at least until up by the roofs, where normal moss and weeds took hold. And the soil smelled acidic, like vinegar. They entered very cautiously. All went well til they rounded the first corner, and saw the multilated corpse of a qurrock lying in the street. It looked as if the side lying uppermost had been shaved or razed off by an enormous file, and its throat had been cut. Just as they made up their minds to leave as fast as possible there came a rustling noise from a house between them and the exit - and a fearsome monster slithered out into the street. It was shaped like a long slug, though leathery-skinned rather than slimy, and it had wriggling cillia all along the sides of it's body - also, it moved as fast as a snake. But the front end had no head. Instead there was a large mass of pink and horrible stinging grabbing tentacles mounted on a telescoping neck. There was a mad rush for other the end of the street. Khastz tried to mount his qurrock, but fell off as the qurrocks fled shrieking in panic. The players formed a rough line to hold the street part from Castor who ran safe distance backwards and Aquila (who scrambled up onto a nearby roof that hadn't fallen in), and the worm slithered forwards and attacked them! So they attacked back. Bellona and Khastz waded in with swords, quickly developing an effective system of dodge-and-whack (the player who runs Bellona is a hard-core D20 junkie and thinks more tactically than the other players, who are by and large noobs: with her coaching they might actually turn into an effective team). Lamoniak charged past on on his horse, opening a huge gash down the creature's middle. Then the wriggling cilia along its side puffed out a cloud of acetic acid, and everyone nearby was temporarily blinded! Aquila up on the roof was out of range and hurled slates down on it, slashing its neck. Gen fell back and slung sling bullets into the bunch of tentacles, and Khelsan leaped in to deal it a mighty blow - only to be seized and suckered by the grasping tentacle head, and slammed to the ground and into walls as if he were a toy. But the players were not deterred and slashed wildly on, until Khelsan, who was still (barely) conscious, drove his sword into it with two hands from beneath and separated the tentacles and himself from the rest of the worm. Then it fled, but the players pursued it, stabbing, and its death throes brought two houses crashing down in ruins! Once the tentacle clump was pulled off Kelsan he proved to be unharmed apart from multiple little puncture points (the players don't know at this point that he has been poisoned - but more of that next session), and the half-blinded armigers soon recovered their sight. Now they are discussing whether to leave the village at once, or to investigate the strange-looking "well" in the small square in front of the temple from which the worm may have come. They are also considering skinning a section of the creature and getting the hide tanned, as it might make very tough leather for armour - most of the sword strokes did little damage to the creature. Monster notes - the creature was an automaton, so took no stun, although it did lose powers (first the acid puffing, from Lamoniak's charge, then it's major sensory organ from a slate embeded in its upper body and finally the stretching from Khelsen's mighty blow). It had 5 def, which shouldn't have turned most blows, but due to low dice roling, did Most importantly, the creature had 20 BOD, and is currently at 0 - after thrashing about and bringing the house down on itself, it is lying still (it's lost its ability to sense prey and is no longer being attacked and it's about as smart as a slug) and regenerating. If the players leave it alone, it'll be up and about again in a couple of days The Samadrians, meanwhile are riding fast for the north coast, where they plan some more dark sorcery.... cheers, Mark

Re: The Flood: Not a Simple Transform The other option is to build this as a creature with multiform with three (or more) forms Swarm/possessed/combat/?. It starts out with "swarm form" powers. By the sound of it, invisibility, inherent desolid (with a vulnerability to area effect attacks?), etc, plus a slow (probably NND does body) HKA. It then converts into the "possessed host" form with a physical body and a big cuddly mimic pool (all limited with "requires a host body") and a limited set of powers (what the host knows/can do). So it can't use this form without a body. You can safely handwave the body of the person killed - at that point, it's a special effect anyway. If at some point it mutates further, then it has further forms (Combat form, disco-dancing form, whatever). You might put a limit on this part of the multiform such that it can only switch when possessing a body. With this construct, if a combat form (or disco-dancing form) is killed, a new swarm can come along and use that as the body for possession - nothing says the body has to be human, right? In this case it simply possesses and goes straight to the combat form. cheers, Mark

Re: Magic System Question #4 I'd add Charges never recover and independant to give you -4 and then note as a house rule (since I would not normally allow both on one power - if the charges never recover, having the power is not much use, so losing the points doesn't matter) that this combo is only ever allowed once per character. cheers, Mark

Re: Looking for help - stealth suit powers? Here's a stealthsuit write up from an old character - it might give some ideas. http://www.geocities.com/markdoc.geo/Gaming_stuff/character_archive/kenji_image.html cheers, Mark

Re: Racial Restrictions on magic builds I have. The "færie races" can cast magic without many of the limitations required on human spell casters. It makes them highly magical beings. To balance that off, they have a susceptibility to iron or to sunlight - both burn them and wounds caused by iron weapons tend to be extra nasty, while sunlight also blinds the sunlight-sensitive types. In general, Færies don't make good PCs (although I did have one a while back, who died of an iron overdose) - but I have considered running a game where *all* the PCs were færies of various sorts: that could be kind of fun. cheers, Mark

Re: Usagi Yojimbo Hero The duels between Usagi and Ino always ended in a draw, so I figure they are about the same level. Usagi was always holding back a bit, so I figured he might have the edge there, but then he was also clearly on the defensive most of the time. Hard to call Yeah, you do, but it's just a couple of panels in Showdown (issue #47) - Usagi does his "grim face" and stares at Shizukiri - Shizukiri stares back and after a moment Usagi kind of wilts and looks away (implying that Shizukiri is "spiritually" stronger). Gen aks him if he is OK and also comments earlier that he has a really nasty reputation.

Re: Magic System Question #1 The simplest way to deal with this (and the best, I'm thinking) is roleplay. If wizards don't like giving out new spells and it's costly to learn them, that's a pretty solid disincentive. But if you have to have a mechanism, I'd adapt the old AD&D and Runequest mechanism. Require every magic-user to have a skill "Learn magic" and to learn a new spell, they have to successfully roll it. It is, of course, affected by active points in the spell (so spells with more active points are harder to learn) and you only get to roll once per session (or once per month or per week, or whatever you decide fits best). Depending on how punitive you want to be, you could either: a) decide that a failed roll means the XP for the spell is lost (in which case, all spells should get the independant limitation to explain the XP loss and make up for this limitation). You probably won't get many mages with this system. Or: You keep the XP but can't apply it to anything else for some time. You can of course keep trying to learn the spell, or after a while use it for another spell, or other things. This won't stop people playing mages, but there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth when they fail their rolls. It has the side effect that smart players will take extra time and try to get ideal settings and equipment bonuses to ensure they can learn their spells, which is at least in genre. cheers, Mark

Re: Usagi Yojimbo Hero Just a minor quibble for Mike. You describe Usagi as being his era's greatest swordsman, but I'd rate him as "one of the greatest". He's been defeated several times: Jei beat him in their first encounter (before being struck by lightning) and almost beat him and Gennnoské combined in their final duel - he was winning easily until Usagi got him in the back while he attempted to save Keiko. Nakamura Koji beat him in a fair fight - even after being at a disadvantage when his sandal breaks - and since Katsuichi defeats Koji, it's fair to say he could probably still beat Usagi, too. Shizukiri stared him down in the Yojimbo tribute story line, suggesting a stronger ki (apparently he reappears soon in his own story) Stan Sakai himself writes: "Usagi is nowhere near the best swordsman in Japan. He was beaten by Koji, and wounded by Jei. He has not been tested against many others including Katsuichi and the Lord of Owls. So far, the best of the swordsmen I've introduced is Inazuma." So Inazuma is the best sword around? Better than Jei? Now THAT's a scary thought cheers, Mark

Re: Usagi Yojimbo Hero With regard to the magic thing, I ran a fantasy samurai game for 4 years and made deliberately magic difficult and draining to do. PCs *could* be magicians, but only one player ever chose to become one. NPC magicians existed but were very, very rare and just like PC mages, were not very combat-capable. The players didn't seem to mind, because "without magic" does not mean "without powers" - sword-wielding PCs had a variety of powers simply defined as fighting tricks or Kung-Fu. The demon-queller, for example, could harm ghosts and similar desolid folk by spitting on them - but he couldn't fly or cast fireballs. The samurai didn't have that sort of wierd power, but they had (for example) autofire or area of effect attacks with their swords, allowing them to carve through peasants like a hot sword through butter, the ninja had various "sneaky" powers and so on. As a GM, I liked this style, since I wanted the emphasis to be sword-slingers (if I ran a "Knightly" game, I'd take the same approach) and it let the players diversify while keeping the game easily balanced (not so many telepathy, raise dead, teleport and other plot-destroying spells). Cheers, Mark

Re: How to...Power Amplifiers... Another option is a variable limitation. I did this with an energy projecting character. He had lots of raw power, but poor control, so he had limits like side effect and activation roll - which he could swap for a focus, enabling him to control his powers efficiently. It's a classic "mutant power" thing like Cyclops with his eyebeams having "limited conscious control" or "Focus". cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! OK, most recent update: Kyris (the man the players have been calling Obi-Wan) and Slethyr (a Black hand cultist) see and recognize each other. They are too close for safe use of magic, so they draw their blades. The cultist calls out “The man who has been spying on us – he’s over here!” Bellona and Khatz (for whatever reason) draw their blades and rush Slethyr – but it’s too far for them to get a blow in. Kyris moves more slowly towards Slethyr and holds himself ready. Gen charges off to try and get behind the other cultists on the other side of the market, who come running. Aquila fades behind a market stall, looking for an unattended back to stick a dagger into. Khelsen the merchant, who has recently acquired a really big sword, draws it and makes a run at one of the cultists There is a flurry of blows exchanged in the doorway as none of the opponents there manage to land a significant blow on the other. Kyris is unable to get in close because of the other two in his way, so he charges the other cultists, stabbing one with his shortsword, and dropping him to the ground. A third cultist attacks Khelsen and wounds him slightly, stunning him, but drawing only a little blood through his heavy furs. The other cultists pause and one of them makes a mystic gesture and dark oily smoke bursts from his robes, covering the centre of the market square and hiding them from sight. Despite that Kyris and his opponent grapple and continue to stab each other. Khelsen is struck over the head and knocked unconscious, while Gen charges into the smoke flailing about with his sword. The various merchants who had fled to a safe distance to watch the swordfight and the two temple guards who had run up to intervene all backed up, but to no avail: to the sound of chanting, the smoke continued to spread wider and wider. Miraculously unscathed, Bellona and Khatz’s opponent dropped his sword and dodged into the darkness, while in the darkness, there were various screams and alarums as people searched for allies and foes, ran into market stalls, briefly clashed blades and so on. Bellona was able to track one group by following their sounds but lost them at the edge of the market and when, after some time, the smoke dispersed, all that was left was a dead cultist, thoroughly stabbed by Kyris and Kyris himself, also wounded but more seriously, with a spreading black mark that looked like a severe burn on his arm. Recognising the spell he had been hit with (the dreaded Black hand that gives the cult its name) and realizing that he had only moments to live Kyris called the players over (all except for Gen who had gone running off to the gate in pursuit of cultists, Lamoniak, who was still in bed at the temple and Castor, who was in the temple with him) and explained that the people he was watching were evil cultists who had come to Ostragya on some dark mission and that they were going to the Bald Man of Lossach – he offered powerful magic gifts to those who would avenge his death. The players quickly agreed and accepted a magical gift in exchange for the Geas of avenging him on the cultists. Khatz got “The hound inescapable” – a clairvoyant detect spell. If he has something beloinging to his target, he can sense that person’s destination. Bellona got “Vertical Charge” allowing her to run on vertical surfaces as though they were flat Khelsan got “Frog on a lilypad” allowing him to run on water (or other liquids) and Aquila got “Disguise” which allows him to alter his facial features. At this point, the guard rushed up, but held off when Kyris informed him that he had killed the dead man, and that he was swearing the players to avenge his death at the hands of the others (vengeance is a serious social obligation, so the guards let him finish). But the interruption did mean he didn’t get to finish telling them about the cultists before he expired in an agonising fashion from the effects of The Black Hand. At that point the players were hustled off to see the Constable and (possibly) be tried for murder. In the end however, Kyris’ testimony, together with that of several eyewitnesses, plus the fact that the players had pretty much unbloodied weapons got them off. They were accused of breach of the peace but their previous service during the festival got them out of any serious trouble, especially when they stated that they were leaving as soon as they could. Gen got back from chasing the rest of the cultists. He could not catch them since they were mounted and he was on foot but from a hilltop, he had been able to see them hightailing it down the road towards Kasshert. They spent the rest of the day working out what to do, getting mounts and trying out their new powers (these require a skill roll, which most of the players don’t have, so they are pretty unreliable for now, defaulting to 8-) The players thought the Bald Man of Lossach was a person at first but they have area knowledge and were able to work out it was a place (a mountain, in fact) and were also able to find out by asking around that there is a famous shrine there. They have decided that that is their next goal. Talking with the old inquisitor/priest, they have been able to work out also that The Cult of the Black Hand, worship a being called the Lord of Smoke and in addition that the thing that possessed Jaarst Daro comes from the same cult, firmly fixing the blame for the murders on the cult. Now they are all fired up to go and visit some vengeance on these cultists and plan to set out early the next day! Cheers, Mark

Re: Turning Undead Yeah, what he said. I do have specialised undead killers in my game and they buy their powers appropriately. cheers, Mark

Re: WWYD: The Perfect Partner (potentially controversial) See (for example) Tanith Lee's "The silver metal lover" which has almost exactly this theme. cheers, Mark

Re: What setting does your campaign use? Yep - Fitz is around - he posts under the name "Fitz" He and I gamed together back in the ages before the dinosaurs. MMM. Guinness Anyway, I'm glad it's useful. I was thinking the other day it needed updating, but given how hectic life is, I'm not sure when that will happen. cheers, Mark